Top Muslims Guilty Of Abuses in Bosnia

Published: March 16, 2006

United Nations war crimes judges on Wednesday found two former Bosnian Muslim army commanders guilty of atrocities committed by their troops on Bosnian Croat and Bosnian Serb civilians during the war in Bosnia, from 1992 to 1995.

Judges at The Hague tribunal sentenced a former general, Enver Hadzihasanovic, to five years in prison and Amir Kubura, who had the rank of brigadier, to two and a half years. The judge said time already spent in detention would be taken into account, meaning that Mr. Kubura would be freed shortly.

The men, among the highest-ranking Bosnian Muslims to stand trial in The Hague, were found guilty of failing to prevent or punish atrocities by troops under their command, including foreign Islamic fighters.

The tribunal said prosecutors had failed to convince the court that the men had full knowledge of the abuses and effective control over the perpetrators, who in many cases were the foreign fighters.

Many came from North Africa and the Middle East to support their fellow Muslims during the war in the former Yugoslavia. They moved from giving out food to local Muslims to fighting alongside their forces.

The two men were charged with commanding army units that killed and abused Bosnian Serb and Bosnian Croat civilians during Muslim attacks on Croat forces in central Bosnia between January 1993 and January 1994.